Brains
by orange219
Summary: The Cullens left and Bella was changed by the Volturi. She escapes Volterra with some human children, and returns to America. There, she finds destruction and death, and learns that the existence of vampires has been exposed, and civilization has ended.
1. Chapter 1

After graduation, Edward disappeared

Brains

After graduation, Edward disappeared. With him, he took Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie. Bella didn't know why they disappeared, or where they went.

She also didn't know why they left so suddenly.

She probably should've been prepared, or at least as prepared as one could possibly be in her position, when the wedding plans got nowhere. Not even Alice seemed to care about them anymore. Not even _Alice._ Maybe the next time a god presents himself in front of her, pledging his eternal love, she won't believe him. She shouldn't have believed the first one who came along.

After said disaster, unbeknown to Bella, a few "foreign exchange students" moved to Forks. These students had pale skin, red eyes, and unlimited beauty. They came from a large town in Italy, called Voltera.

A couple of days after these students arrived, a sophomore at Forks High was found in a ditch, at 3:00 AM , after having gone missing the night before. She had been completely drained of all blood, to the disbelief of the police force, and other detectives brought to the case.

The next night, 7 middle school students, 5 babies, 3 more high school students, and all of Bella's graduating class was brutally murdered, in the same manner. Bella was the only one spared.

The next night there were no murders, but Bella Swan went mysteriously missing, right under the nose of her own father, pride of the Forks Police Department. Before her presence was missed, she was on a private plane to Europe, screaming, due to the fire spreading through her veins.

_To anyone and everyone (maybe around 3 people…?) reading this story: This is just an intro into the plot and storyline (which are most definitely _not_ the same thing) to see if I, or anybody else for that matter, enjoy the story._

_If you loved it, leave a review._

_If you hated it, send me flames._

_If you're caught in a kind of battle within yourself over how you feel towards this story, which will keep you up night after night, maybe even cause you to start a forum or question your friends about it, get a life._

_If you think my writing stinks beyond repair, send more flames, and tell me what I should do better._

_Ciao._


	2. Chapter 2

Brains

Brains

BPOV

I woke up in a white room, containing a few miscellaneous items of furniture, all destroyed beyond repair. I suppose that if this is where Volturi changed all of their newborns, that this was nothing beyond the ordinary. What was appalling, though was the fact that I could detect every single scratch on a coffee table in the far corner of the room.

Robbed of more time to examine the coffee table, my mind started whirling. Without my command, it started making solutions to problems I had never thought of before. If humans had never even thought of any form of technology, global warming wouldn't be an issue. Along with answers, came questions. If God hadn't' have dumped Adam and Eve on this planet, and made do with animal companions, which animal would have become the dominant species? Would there be a ruler, or would all of the reptiles and insects live in harmony? You know what, maybe there is no meaning of life. Should we all just forget about it, or create our own meaning?

Then my mind started calculating at a pace I never could have believed possible. Alice probably saw the Volturi coming, and whatever happens to me here may be important. Then why not tell me? That may factor into the outcome of events as well. Well then, what if escaping from Voltera is part of my future, too? If it's not, then it never hurts to over-prepare. If I were to leave this death-trap, I'll need to make sure that the Volturi have their guard done. In that case, who would you least expect to run away? Someone who has nowhere to go. Where would I go if I left?

A picture of Edward's face entered my mind. _Of course,_ I thought to myself._ I would run to Edward._ Well then, if I don't remember Edward, I'll never run to him. That'll be eas-

Wait, how do they know when someone is done changing? Do they know if I'm a vampire right now? What would they expect me to do, right after becoming a "who knows what"?

As I was inspecting a small impression on the third leg of a stool, Aro, Marcus, and Caius walked into the room.

_To bad I was never much of an actress,_ I considered with an inward sigh. _Edward himself told me so._

And that concludes the second chapter. Short, isn't it?

For all of you haters, _I_ like Bella's power. It's unique. She always was a quick thinker.

Sayonara.


	3. Chapter 3

Brains

Brains

**Disclaimer: Also applies to the other chapters, that came before this one. I own nothing, besides the basic plot of this particular story.**

"Wh-who are you?" I asked in the most pathetic voice that I could muster. "Where am I?! Where's my mother?!"

While I was talking, or whining, I had decided that it wouldn't hurt to remember a little of my human life. A couple days of second grade, here and there, probably Renee, though Charlie wasn't necessary. That might get to complicated.

"Ah, Bella!" Aro said in his overly-excited way. I've never known someone so old to be so incredibly energetic. "So you do remember your years as a human. Tell me, how thirsty are you right now?"

Well that's interesting. I never noticed that disturbance in the back of my throat.

"You're right." I stated, seemingly surprised. "I am thirsty, but not for water. If that's the case, the what am I thirsty for?"

"Blood." Caius said, getting straight to the point. Thank you, Caius, I've always hated beating around the bush. "Here," he said, motioning towards the door. Heidi brought in a young girl, possibly eight or nine. "Have a sip." With this a wicked glint entered his eyes.

Thankfully, I had no wish, whatsoever, to drink this girl's blood. With a look of contempt on my face, I shook my head, a sound of displeasure coming from my throat.

Marcus seemed somewhat surprised at my reaction, Aro haughty, as if he expected this all along, and I don't think Caius cared a bit. _He's probably seen enough vampires come and go to get bored with it easily,_ I decided. Heidi, leaving the frightened girl in the room, opened the door again, but instead of a child, this time a horde of animals swarmed into the room. Surprisingly, even birds were included in the parade.

My mind left my body, not for good, I concluded, just a while for me to hunt. Carefully avoiding the girl, I lunged after an albatross. It tried to fly higher in the split second that it had before I killed it, but I only had to jump up a few feet to catch it. Drinking it's blood, I could almost _feel _my eyes changing color, from the deep red that I was positive they were, to a slightly more calm feeling color.

Suddenly, I was back. I shot a stunned look at the four vampires in the room, noting that the girl was cowering in fear. With real surprise, I saw that she didn't seem afraid of me, but of the other blood-suckers.

"So Bella, have you noticed any strange abilities that you might not have had before?" Aro said, still friendly.

Best not tell him about my thinking disorder, right?

"No," I replied, saying it slowly, as if I was telling a toddler, for the fifth time, that Santa Clause didn't exist. "Should I?" I added, confusion crossing my face.

"Don't worry, it'll surface in its own time." Aro said casually, as if I should know this. "Back to your earlier question. You've become a vampire, one like Caius, Marcus, Heidi," he said, gesturing to each one of them in turn, "and myself. You seem not to remember, so I'll inform you that my name is Aro, and yours is Isabella Marie Swan. This human," he said, with humor in his eyes, as if her name didn't matter, "is Elsie. She was to be your meal," Elsie shuddered at this, "but you seem to have a distaste for humans. Enough about us. Tell us about your mother and yourself."

_Tread carefully,_ I told myself. _Think of this conversation as a battlefield, littered with landmines. Anything you say could blow up your plan._

"My mother's name was Renee," I said, uncertainly. "She married Phil, a baseball player."

"Have I heard of him?" Heidi said, interest in her eyes. _Probably fake interest, too._ I thought scornfully.

"Probably not. He doesn't play _well._ Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot." I could have punched myself for saying that. Was it feasible that I remembered that much of my past life? _Oh, well. To late now._

"Go on," Caius said, annoyed with the small distraction. _Are there some unsuspecting victims that need attending to, Caius? Somewhere else you'd rather be?_

"I could see that Renee would like to travel with him, but felt bad about leaving me alone. So I decided to go stay with my--" _This should be where my memory starts going,_ I determined. "Well that's funny. I can't remember who I went to stay with. Um, my grandmother? Maybe?"

"That's fine." Marcus assured me, also bored. "I'm sure we can make do without that one detail. You may continue."

"No, it's not just that," I told them, shaking my head. "I don't seem to remember much after that. I _think_ that I got on the plane, but after that…wait, the plane didn't crash, did it? Am I dead?"

"Yes and no." Aro said, taking charge of the conversation. "We've already explained it once, but that's normal for a newborn not familiar with our lifestyle, or, in your case, one who has associated with our kind, yet forgot their human years. We're vampires, and that includes you.

"Now, before we waste any more time, I have a couple tests I would like to give you." He turned to Heidi to say, "Would you care to bring Jane in?"

As he advanced I prayed to no one in particular, _Please, oh please let me still be immune to mental powers._

**I proclaim the third chapter….Done. Way to go me. I worked hard. **

**I think that this one's the longest yet.**

**There's a direct quote from the first book hidden in this chapter, if anybody gets bored enough to try and find it.**

**The new Willy Wonka movie (with Johny Depp) rocks my socks off.**


	4. Chapter 4

Brains

**Brains**

As Aro walked towards me, he got nearly a few feet away before _more _vampires walked in. These, like all of the other vampires, were all too familiar, but I didn't let _them_ know that.

One with copper hair advanced at a speed that was slow even for humans. It was Edward, of course, and his expression broke my heart. He seemed upset, ecstatic, and angry all at once. Knowing Edward, he wasn't angry at me, but at himself.

An expression missing from his face, though was surprise. I mentally slapped myself after thinking this, mainly for being slow-witted. Of course he knew I was there, it was I who was surprised, and just because I didn't expect him didn't mean that he hadn't been expecting me. He had Alice as a sister, and she wasn't shocked to see me either.

_This might've even been the reason they left,_ I reasoned with myself. _I suppose something would've gone wrong it they stayed, but if they're here it'll be fine._

_Also, it seems less suspicious for them to have come to Voltera before I got kidnapped, rather than after. This way it seems like a coincidence. I just hope that no one takes Alice's fortune telling into account._

When Edward got close enough to touch me, he enveloped me in his arms, no longer cold to my skin, in vampire speed. The astonished look on my face was not the product of my acting, but really my true feelings. I had not foreseen that.

The hardest part of our reunion was having to push him away, looking disgusted. _You don't know him, _I told myself. _He's nothing more than a random beautiful stranger giving out hugs to newborns. You don't_ _know_ _him!_

The forlorn look on his face was almost more than I could handle, but somehow I pulled through. With a silent promise to him to explain later, I said, "Who are you? What right do you have t—"

As the other, older vampires ignored me and started talking, Edward turning to his family to comment about my 'loss of memory,' I thought, _Wow, I just can't get my two cents in. Oh well, better to be underestimated than anything else. _

Without anymore information, I was taken up to the third floor, to a room that was so gaudy I almost laughed out loud. How could they not suspect that Alice knew I was coming when she designed this room? Maybe they thought that she had some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or something. _Best stay away from the crazy chick,_ I thought with a smile when I was alone.

Then there was a knock on the door. Marcus and Heidi had brought me here, so I can't imagine it being them, they didn't forget anything, but it could be any of the Cullens.

I opened the door, and came face to face with Edward. At first, I saw nothing but his topaz eyes, but I later noticed that all of the Cullens were with him.

Looking down the hall, and realizing that it was empty, I beckoned them in. They looked confused at this, while filing into the room, except for Alice, who probably didn't tell them that I remembered my human life, all for the sake of a good story.

I got them to sit on my bed, and prepared myself for the onslaught of questions.

Round one was fired, starting with Rosalie, to my surprise.

"So do you remember us, or not?" She said in an annoyed voice, which wasn't a surprise at all.

"Of course I do," I told her, mocking her annoyed voice perfectly. "We've got Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Alice, Edward, Emmett, and…weird. You seem to be the only one that I don't remember," I said this bit with a smirk in Rosalie's direction.

She opened her mouth to, no doubt, start a fight, but she was cut off by Edward's question.

"Wait, you do remember?" he said, with the most hopeful look that I believe I have ever seen.

"Of course I do. You really expect me to just forget all of those years, just like that? I'm not that stupid. In fact, I seem to be a good deal smarter than I once was. Would you all care to know my power?" I really enjoy teasing them, I realized.

Everyone nodded enthusiastically, all but Rosalie, who apparently refused to cooperate. _I was always good at suppressing unpleasant things,_ I remarked, silently and wonderingly. _I wonder…_

Suddenly, Rosalie was gone, her indention on the mattress of my bed untouched. The Cullens jumped up in mild surprise, but they might've been suspecting something worse with my apparent unveiling of my gift, or gifts.

Outside of the castle, guards hid their laughter as a beautiful blonde vampire landed in a pile of mud, having appeared out of nowhere.

**Look at that, another gift.**

**Now she can impress Aro without revealing her secret, her calculating mind, or as I like to say, her brains. Way to go, Bella.**

**I'm writing this really late at night and my contacts are drying out. They feel weird. Stupid contacts.**


	5. Chapter 5

Brains

**Brains**

With the discovery of my second gift, I was relieved. Now I could easily hide my 'brains' from the Volturi, yet they had a reason to keep me.

After a couple of hours of practicing with the Cullens, I realized that my alternative ability not only allowed me to teleport _other_ people, I could also transport my_self_ from place to place, in a matter of milliseconds. I didn't even have to have been to my destination previously, I could just go there.

I ran to Aro, after playing with my gift, with an innocent, if not bewildered expression on my face. I got lost, and had to ask a passing vampire for directions, but otherwise I found his office with no trouble.

When I walked in, it was empty. To my surprise, there was a clutter of paper everywhere, from books, articles, maps, flyers, and more. I picked up one thing that looked like a report, most likely done by a vampire. The top half of the report looked like instructions, written in Italian, but I picked out a couple of words that looked familiar, so I gathered that they had English counterparts.

Of course I couldn't read the whole thing, but it looked like whoever was sent these instructions had been stationed in Forks, no doubt looking for me. It had a list of deaths, and when saw that my whole high school class was gone, I mourned for Angela. I felt saddened about the others, as well, but Lauren had been a blemish on the human race, and everyone else was either not a real friend to me or I had never met them. Counting, I saw that 123 people, in total, had died because of me, and that was what really made me upset.

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming, and I set down the report. As I was walking out of the room, looking disappointed for having not found Aro, I ran into Emmett. He and Jasper were going somewhere in a hurry, and I followed without a word.

"What's going on?" I asked them as we were sprinting to the far left of the castle.

Jasper, without taking his eyes away from the endless hallways, said, "Alice had a vision. Aro and Marcus are having a fight. It could get ugly."

As soon as I had the necessary details, my last question being _where_ the fight was taking place, I took myself to the scene, in the blink of an eye.

Vampires were everywhere in the courtyard. Some of them hung about in two, three story windows, to get a better view. Aro and Marcus stood in the very middle of the commotion, each with 50 or so vampires behind them.

"What's going on?" I murmured to the closest vampire at hand.

I had chosen Jane to explain things to me. In the excitement, she didn't even seem to notice who she was talking to.

"Aro read Marcus's mind. Apparently Marcus was thinking something that Aro didn't like, and then this erupted." She said in a rushed tone.

I don't know what Marcus had been thinking about, and I may never find out, but in that second I decided to escape.

I ran to a dark corner to teleport, seeing as no one knew of my second power yet, and it'd be a waste to tell them now, but I ran into Elsie. She was carrying a broom and a duster, wearing a dirty white dress. _Or maybe a clean brown dress, _I thought, disgusted by the Volturi.

"Hello," I said softly, before she could squeal with surprise. "My name is Bella, and I'm going to run away from here."

Her questioning look told me that she was wondering something along the lines of, "Why is this strange lady telling me this?" so I quickly said, "Would you like to come with me?"

She paused for a second, but then nodded with enthusiasm. My eyes scanned around the room, looking for the best way out, when she started to say something.

"Do you think that we coul—" she managed to get out before I shushed her. No vampires seemed to notice, though; they were all far too engrossed in the fight.

"We'll talk later," I explained to her in as quiet a voice as I thought that she could hear. She had been around vampires to long to not understand why.

I decided to try something, another test to my new skill. I whispered to Elsie that she should think of a place that she needs to go before we leave, and then grab my hand. She took very little time to react, and when I let go of her hand we were in a place even darker than our corner in the courtyard, and the room that we were standing in looked like a dungeon. I heard the surprised yelp of small children, and looking down I saw legs scrambling away.

"Elsie!" someone hissed as if they expected me not to hear. "Why did you bring one of _them_, _here_?!"

"Because," Elsie said with the tone of superiority, "she says that she wants to help. And even if she does kill us, I would rather die trying." She had an air of determination about her that seemed to draw the other children in.

There were seven in all, and the youngest two seemed to be three or four. Elsie told me, after we had explained the plan to the others, that she was the oldest at thirteen years old. This surprised me, even though it shouldn't have. The first time that I had seen her, I took her for a nine year old, but I suppose slavery makes one look smaller, especially when you're wearing a dirty old smock 4 sizes to big.

The youngest two I had guessed right on, their names where Erica and Tommy, Erica being the older of the two at four and a half, Tommy being just barely three. There was a boy named Michael who was seven, and Anna, who was ten. The one who had snapped at Elsie when we first got here was an eleven year old boy called Dice, though I doubted that that was his real name. He had a sensible, if not stubborn, head on his shoulders for someone of his young age.

The second oldest was around 12 years of age, and the others didn't know her name. She had never told them. I don't suppose that she was deaf, because she took directions without being told twice, and looked at your eyes when you talked to her, not your mouth, so she wasn't lip reading.

With all of these kids in tow, I thought of Forks. We all made the "trip" with no difficulty, but when we got to the town of my recent residence, I was shocked. There wasn't a single tree in sight, which is saying more in this town that it is in other places. I ran to Charlie's old house, after leaving the kids hiding in the nurse's room of Forks High, and found charred remains.

**To all of you readers, because I know that your numbers are countless, I make this up as I go along.**

**One day I'll hit some serious writer's block, thinking, "Where in the world is this story going?!" **

**Feel free to give me ideas for a catastrophic event that will plunge our characters into a seemingly never-ending cornucopia of death, grief, and war. **

**Ha ha.**


	6. Chapter 6

Brains

**Brains**

Hours later, I knew what happened to Forks. After the vampires left, the town was in chaos. At least a hundred families had lost their children, and my body was never even found. The citizens of Forks all suspected one another of killing their family, and no one was trusted. Charlie, being the chief of police, tried to make peace, but then they all turned on him. After they burned his house down (with him still inside of it, I realized once I found his skeleton), they no longer had a common enemy.

Then more vampires came. There were two males and one female, all of them in their early twenties when they were changed.

These new vampires, not being vegetarian, killed everyone in the town, after getting permission from the Volturi, of course. Apparently the "royal family" no longer cared for this crazed town, and let them have free rein.

So everyone within a 40 mile radius was most likely dead.

Now, the vampires who slayed the small town of Forks stayed in a rather large and secluded white house for about a week after killing everybody. The female had long red hair, which reminded anybody who saw it of flames, and one of the males was tall and dark-haired, while the other male was slighter than the first, with light brown hair. They all had a sort of cat-like gait, and seemed constantly on the edge of shifting into a crouch.

They were also still living in their borrowed mansion.

The second that I smelled the vampires scent, I froze. I realized that it was too strong to be anything but fresh, so I ran back to the children. I barked at them to hold on to me, and as they were rushing into their "positions," I looked around Forks, one more time.

Of course, I promptly heard a call of, "James, I think I heard something over here!"

Before we could escape, I caught a glimpse of the caller. It was Victoria, and she looked bewildered, staring right at me. Before I wasting any more time, I thought of that hotel that I had stayed at with Alice and Jasper the _first_ time that I ran into these very vampires.

Luckily we arrived in a dark alleyway next to this hotel, instead of right in front of the receptionist's desk, which might have been a problem. I walked into the hotel, with the children following behind, when I realized that I had absolutely no money with me.

"Damn it!" I muttered, under my breath.

Elsie looked up at me with a scolding look, like I was a child caught stealing a cookie, before she asked, "Something wrong?"

"Is there any chance that any of you know where I could get some money?" I replied, gauging their responses.

Elsie gave me a look that said, "Do I have to do everything around here?" while Dice and Anna hid their snickers. Michael started digging into his pocket, bringing out some loose change, and Erica and Tommy were distracted by other children their age, who were asking their mothers for various treats that they saw in shop windows.

All of them pulled together to help, but Michael proved to be the most helpful. He had 50 dollars saved up, only Michael knows where he got it, but it still wasn't enough. At one point I decided to try my luck and go back to Forks, to search the remains of my house for my savings, and I left the children in the care of a library.

At Forks, I searched through the ashes that were once my home, looking for a single sliver of glass. I found the jar containing my collage funds, and counted 1,985. Not much to get me into collage, but more than enough to buy 7 children and myself a nice hotel room. I was just about to teleport back my charges, when I heard a howl.

I had forgotten about the werewolves.

A single russet-colored werewolf screeched to a half in front of my ruined house, looking at me with a glare. _If looks could kill,_ I thought, not sure whether to laugh or run at the reunion of my old friend.

Jacob just sat there, staring me down, so I decided to make conversation.

"Hello, Jake," I said in a friendly voice. "Are you okay? How's the rest of the pack?"

My natural enemy and best friend seemed surprised that I knew his name. As soon as recognition dawned on his face, I was no longer staring at a large mass of fur, but instead being hugged by cold arms. I was immediately suspicious. _How long have Jake's arms been anything but 200 degrees? Great, more acting._

"Bella!" Jacob said, ecstatic. "You _smell._"

"Glad to see you, too," I countered, with a laugh. "How have you been? Is the pack still okay?"

"Of course, you dolt," he said, pulling away from me to show me his triumphant smile. "No stupid bloodsucker is going to defeat _our _pack. We chased them out of town a long time ago."

"But I smelled them," I said, suddenly cautious.

"Well of course you smelled them, you're a vampire after all," Jacob said, with an air of exasperations, hiding his true, and newfound, insecurity. "They did kill just about everyone, and were running all around the place." He started to slowly back up.

"And how did you know that I was here, then?" I demanded, wanting to know the answer to this riddle.

"I smelled you, of course," 'Jacob' said, he had finally reached the spot where the wall on my house once was.

"Over the sent of the vampires? Who _are_ still here, by the way."

"Good job, Bella," Jacob suddenly said, in a voice other than his own. "You seem to have gotten a bit smarter."

"I still don't know who you are," I said, deciding not to feign innocence. _It's probably Laurent, if I'm correct in guessing who they are. I don't know what the other's gifts are, but this is the work of a shape-shifter. That voice just now wasn't a female's, and I remember Edward telling me about James' "mind of a hunter."_

"Oh, yes," Laurent said, slowly shifting back into his own form. "Well, maybe I'll keep you in suspense. Where's the fun in telling you who I am, right from the top?"

"There's no need for that, Laurent," I said, taking away his source of amusement, just to spite him.

"Fun sucker," Victoria cut in, from behind me. I jumped, out of surprise. I was expecting her to come, I just thought that I'd be able to hear her.

"So what really happened to the pack?" I directed at Laurent, anxious for news of my friends.

"They left yesterday," James replied, showing up next to Victoria. "After everyone was dead, they gave up the fight."

"So what happened to your sweetheart?" Victoria asked, a mocking sneer distorting her features.

"I don't know," I replied bluntly. After seeing her wicked smile, I was tempted to add 'I left him at Voltera,' but I fought it, and won. Why should she need to know where I had once stayed?

Then Laurent said, "What happened to those kids that you had? Did you drink them? If so, you should've saved some for us."

"I didn't drink them!" I threw back at him, with a snarl. I was becoming good friends with the children.

"Ah, so are you a 'vegetarian,' just like your beloved Cullens?" James asked, his laughter in his eyes. "We should be able to find them easily enough."

In a split second, he and Victoria were gone, while Laurent grabbed me, to keep me from chasing after them. I would've teleported there, but I would've been forced to take Laurent along with me. Instead I fought him, all to no avail.

**EPOV**

After Aro and Marcus' fight over leadership of the Volturi (which Aro won, who then burned up pieces of Marcus at a bonfire that we were all told to watch), I realized that Bella had left. I ran to Alice, who told me (without my asking), that she had gone back to America, and who she would run into.

I had left Volturi that day, and when my plane landed in Seattle at 2:00 in the morning, I rented a car and drove, at 120 mph, in the direction of Forks. I crossed her sent near Port Angeles, and changed course.

I kept walking through deserted streets until I found a library.

After I climbed through the window (the door was looked), I almost ran into a small child. She looked to be about 12, with shoulder-length black hair, and purple eyes. She smiled up at me.

"Hello," she said. "You must be Edward. My name is Sarah."

I didn't bother with asking Sarah how she about _my _name, but instead about Bella's.

"Yes, she's the one who helped us," she told me.

After she had led me to a row of shelves where she had apparently been staying, and she quietly told me the other children's names, there was a knock on the library door.

**And that's the end of this series. Heh heh. Just kidding.**

**Oh, how I loath cliff-hangers.**


	7. Chapter 7

Brains

**Brains**

**Isn't it funny how it took me the longest to add a chapter after a cliffhanger?**

**I wonder how that happened…**

**EPOV**

When I heard the knock on the door, I tensed. Reaching out with my mind, I heard James' thoughts.

_Isabella's smell is all over this place, and it's fresh._

In the mean time, Victoria, apparently standing next to him, was thinking, as expected—

_What's the point of this, anyway? There's plenty enough prey in this city, why hunt down these kids? Unless it's not the kids that we're looking for…_

Just as it crossed James' mind that it wasn't the most brilliant plan to knock on the door, another presence, Laurent, made himself known.

Victoria's mutinous thoughts and James' calculating ones cut off immediately into thoughts of surprise and bewilderment, for Laurent was holding onto a struggling Bella by the wrist.

With a laugh, and in a voice so disgustingly superior sounding you could see his sneer in your mind's eye, James said, "Well, Edward, children, I suppose you are free to go, for the time being."

And with that, they ran off, taking Isabella with them.

Erica and Tommy, none the wiser, giggled in glee at being read to from a Dr. Seuss book (by an unhappy Michael). Elsie, Dice, and Sarah seemed to be the only ones aware of the current situation.

And so, I became the caretaker of sorts, even when I was filled with rage (at Isabella's capture) and barely able to contain my anger, even in the face of seven innocent children.

**BPOV**

I was blind-folded, gagged, tied up, and, strangely enough, on the verge of being unconscious.

But I could still listen. After I had been taken to what I supposed was an "evil lair" I was dumped on the floor and thrown into a prison cell. I couldn't believe that these geeks went so far as to have a prison cell.

Unfortunately for them, they were idiots. They put a prison cell in the middle of their "press room," (_Do they honestly expect to have a press conference?_ I wondered), similar as to how one would put a bird cage holding a prized canary in the open to showcase it, and they discussed their plans in that very room.

They had no problem whatsoever revealing anything in front of me because I was "unconscious." At first, I was completely dumbfounded by their idiocy, because vampires are forever awake, but later I realized that this assumption sort of had a base.

Apparently they had developed a brand new drug, that was powerful it could even put the living dead to sleep. And it worked. That's how the story went.

So there I sat, absorbing information, tied, gagged, and utterly still, like a canary in a cage.

I made a mental list of what I learned.

They wanted to take over Voltera.

They caused the ruckus among the Volturi **(see earlier chapters)**.

They were brilliant for creating this drug.

The pack (Jacob, Embry, ect.) had escaped to a small town in North Carolina, named Ahoskie.

They had "friends" (vampires on their side, also in on the plan to take over Voltera) in Ahoskie (apparently unknown to the pack), and other common vampire spots in the North.

Their friends name's and information are as follows:

Natalie- appearance of a 17 year old, long straight brown hair, favorite disguise- geeky girl (wears glasses and other "non-fashionable" clothes). She's 5 feet, 3 inches.

Valerie- appearance of a 20 year old, looks the same as Natalie, only older. Height: 5 feet, 6 inches.

Mitchell- Valerie's mate, changed when he was 22, short, curvy, light brown hair. 6 feet, 2 inches.

Eddie- looks 7 years old, normal length (for a guy) blonde hair, very cruel. 3 feet 11 inches.

They have other "friends," who are all in Tanya's group of "vegetarians"

They're going to strike the Volturi on September 11, 2009.

They thought that 9/11 would be the funniest and most appropriate date. They laughed for five minutes when James suggested this particular day.

The drug is made of garlic, holy water, a ground wolf's tooth, and grass.

This "secret lair" is the Cullen's old house, the press room is Edward's old room. The stereo is still there.

Edward was with the seven children that I saved from Voltera, in the old library.

When it was about time for the drug to start losing its power over me, they started talking about useless boring stuff, to throw me off. In whispered tones, Victoria asked Laurent what side effects the drug would have. I would be a bit slow, tired, drowsy, and unaware of my surroundings. I was expected to wake up in about 5 minutes.

I "woke up" in 13 minutes, just to keep them confident in their drug. They seemed pleased that it kept me sedated for so long, and that I was "drowsy," "slow," and "unaware of my surroundings."

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Victoria said in her sick, high voice.

"Wh-where am I?" I asked, not having to feign being tired. I was already long tired of acting. Edward was right, it's not a good career choice for me.

**APOV**

Voltera is falling apart.

**Attention readers. In case you're ready to rip my head off for not updating, I have excuses, and I'll post them all here so that I only have to say it once.**

**!. My brother had a project, I couldn't get on the computer.**

**. Then the computer broke.**

**#. When it was fixed again, I got writer's block.**

**Another side note: I have no idea where this story is going. Suggestions would rock.**

**(Singing) Summertime is here. Happiness and cheer. **

**I went to the beach last weekend and got sunburn on my face because I refused to wear sunscreen. Did you know that when you wear sunscreen in the ocean, the water absorbs it, and if you're near a coral reef, it'll block the coral's energy. It could DIE.**

**My dog barfed today. It's the third day in a row. We'll probably take her to the vet.**

**I am BORED.**


	8. Chapter 8

Brains

**Brains**

JPOV **()**

Running through the forest.

No destination.

No thinking.

No feeling.

No caring.

_You'll have to come back sometime. Mr. Swan has put up fliers, and though your dad seems okay with it, it doesn't take much to realize that he's worried about you._

Shutting myself off from the thoughts, feelings, penetrating my silence.

_Where are you?_

Not listening.

_Jacob Black._

Confusion. Unexpected, blinding pain, soaring to all parts of my body from my spine. Claws, disappearing. Fangs, disappearing. Fur, gone.

_That stupid bloodsucker,_ I thought, my hands shaking, red spots showing themselves in my vision. _I can't even have a moment's peace. But,_ I added, as the greenery around me started turning back to normal, _I'm getting better at my self-control._

_I'll be crossing your path soon._** ()**

I would have tried to avoid the leech, only I knew that he would be able to find me anyways. Plus he might've expected me to do just that. Might as well keep him guessing, if he's going to have the upper hand anyway. And I could always rip him to shreds.

So I kept walking.

MPOV **()**

And so, twenty minutes later, vampire and werewolf, each a sworn enemy of the other, started plotting the rescue of one girl. **()**

**I've come up with a plan. A brilliant plan. Something unheard of. Unseen of. Untouched of. Unthought of. Brilliant.**

**Instead of posting random Author's Notes in the middle of the story, I'm going to post them down here. If you see anything like (), that means that you go down to the note with one star in front of it. Smart, right?**

**Note to self—I refuse to go any further that (). Other note to self—That's twelve stars; this note may save you from counting that multiple times in the future.**

**Author's Notes ****Wow…so fancy lookin'.**

**My own little note, I've decided not to give you the narrator's full name. If you're a big enough fan, you can most certainly figure it out. Have endless fun with that.**

**I have decided that, over eighty so years, Edward has also developed the ability to project his thoughts into other's minds. This was spur-of-the-moment, so don't be surprised if I repost this chapter, with minor and/or major changes, meaning that if it does show up again (and I'm not sure if it does) then you'll probably want to read it again.**

**This point of view I will tell you, because I'm not sure any Twilight fan will get it besides me. It's my point of view.**

**Enter theme song. **

**End of Author's Notes**

**Now, I've realized that there may be a danger of my dear readers being confused, thinking something along the lines of, "Now, just how true to the book is this story?" Well, treasured reader, all of your questions are about to be answered.**

**James was not killed by Edward in the dance studio (book one). He ran away. Coward.**

**This story is set (the beginning of it, at least) right after Bella's graduation. **

**There was no fight with Victoria, therefore our heroine and her companions do not know what her power is (which I'm pretty sure was seducing men to listen to her, do what she says and all that. Remember the kid she was with in the big fight? Was his name Riley, or something?**

**The Volturi have been visited before, the visit in the book. Don't remember which book. Sorry.**

**For those of you who have read the first chapter of Breaking Dawn (you can find it in the back of the newer copies of Eclipse) Jacob's story remains true to what's in the first half of that chapter. He left right before the townspeople were attacked. I'm still working on reading the second half of that chapter. See, I read it in bits and pieces whenever we go to Target.**

**If there are any questions, feel free to direct them to me. I would love to make something up to appease you. **


	9. Chapter 9

Attention all Readers (however few you may be): I write this chapter while humming "Canon" badly and oddly, in the house of my sickly Grandmother, after leaving our beach vacation early because of my Grandmother's health (our leaving early was also due t

**Attention all Readers (however few you may be): I write this chapter while humming "Canon" badly and oddly, in the house of my sickly Grandmother, after leaving our beach vacation early because of my Grandmother's health (our leaving early was also due to other ill omens: My brother throwing up he drank too much pool water, my diving certification being lost and then found again after an enticing game of dumpster diving, etc.) next to a dead, and so far unidentified bug. There's a possibility that I will later learn what type of bug it is, and I will be sure to keep you posted on the bug's progress.**

**Just thought you'd like to know all of that. Hope that it makes your day.**

**Brains**

**BPOV**

"Good morning, Bella!" James enthusiastically greeted me. "What do you think of our new toy?"

"Wh-what?" I asked him, the perfect example of confusion. "What toy are you talking abo-James?!" **()**

"Um…yes?" he said, the perfect example of confusion. "B-bella…?"

"Where did you bring me this time, James?" I asked, an innocent and playful smile spreading over my face, while a smile of cruelty and mischievousness threatened to take over. This would be fun. "France? I did tell you how much I loved the Eiffel Tower when we were there, didn't I? Oh—or maybe Iceland! I honestly don't believe you when you tell me that Iceland is the green one and Greenland is covered in ice. That just doesn't make any sense!" **()**

"Ah—um—what?" James asked, completely blown away by whatever it was that I was throwing at him.

_Alice, Alice, I've just got to keep thinking about Alice, and I can come up with things to say. Alice…_

"Or maybe we're back at Forks!" I went on. _Alice…_ "I can't believe that you would do that for me! You really do remember how much I liked it when I was a human. Or maybe we're back in that dance studio—James, I've missed you so much!" I suddenly shouted, thankful that vampires couldn't cry, because I might not have been able to cry on demand like that.

"Wow, James, what's up with these ropes? Are we playing another game? I really enjoyed our last one, you remember, right? The one where you were the pirate and I was the general's daughter—" **()**

"I…um, don't know what you're talking about, but could we discuss this outside?" James asked me, looking bewildered and nervous, looking over his shoulder at Victoria.

_The fool is playing right into my hands,_ I thought, thoroughly satisfied. _This should go well._

"Ooo, do you have amnesia this time? I thought that you cutest "illness" was that one time when you were blind, and you kept hanging on me and I had to guide you around, and then you accidentally grabbed my—" **()**

"James?" Victoria suddenly said, a serene look on her face, while her eyes where absolutely gleaming with hatred, jealousy and rage. "What exactly is she talking about?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, Victoria." Laurent said, taking over his apparent role of peacemaker.

"I have no idea!" James said, raising and lowering his shoulders in a quick, tense motion. "You're the only girl that I've ever—" **()**

Before he could finish his sentence, Victoria punched him in the face. I squealed in "surprise." She then turned to me, her fist raised, and punched in my direction.

Her fist met with the iron bars of my confinement, and that mollified her for a bit, though it may not have hurt. Coming up with an actual plan (and technically it was a plan, no matter _how_ unsuccessful it was) and opened the door to the cage.

And then I bolted.

She might have caught up with me, if she hadn't been so obviously stunned. I kept running until I was well out of the city limits, and then I concentrated to teleporting back to the library that I had left earlier.

Nothing happened.

_Idiots. How could somebody so incompetent come up with something that actually affected vampires?_

**That's all that I can think of at the moment.**

**By the way, that dead bug was a brown grasshopper. It was confusing, though, because it's legs were curled up like a spider's, and I was looking at it from an odd direction.**

**Author's Notes**

**If you've been paying lots of attention, then you may have noticed that Bella was once gagged in her little cage, and now she's not. I can't come up with any good reason as to why (or how) this happened, so we may as well believe that divine forces interrupted.**

**Bella has in a split second decided to turn Victoria against James, because she figures that Victoria will eventually turn on her and then have to open the cage to beat Bella up thoroughly.**

**Now, I have three stars in at least three different places. That's because, whenever I put a line that signifies that the speaker is being interrupted, then tried to put this thing " after the line, it would go in the wrong direction. I don't **_**think**_** that anyone will notice, it was just really annoying me. I thought that you should know.**

**Blah blah blah.**


	10. Author's Note

Author's Note

Author's Note

A Much Needed Note

First off, I would like to apologize for writing a note instead of a chapter, but this is important.

Apparently my chapters are a lot more confusing than I thought they were. For instance, in chapter eight, after I wrote:

**Author's Note**

I then wrote

**Wow…so pretty**.

See, in Microsoft word, that actually makes sense. I wrote

**Author's Note**

really big and in Monotype Corsiva, which really is pretty.

Also, wherever you see a **( )** in the chapters, there's supposed to be a certain number of stars in between the parenthesis, you know, the one that you get when you press Shift and 8. That star.

The first **( )** had one star, the next one two stars, etc.

So know I'm going to have to come up with a new symbol, and I may just start doing numbers. So don't be surprised if it seems like I'm experimenting in the next couple of chapters. You'll just have to bear with me.

I'm bored.


	11. Chapter 10

**It's been a while since I've updated, or written anything, for that matter. More than half a year. Best part is, I don't have an excuse.**

**Dang, it's hard to write stories while watching Grease.**

**Brains**

**BPOV**

I ran all the way. I passed several towns, and saw that Forks wasn't the only one left in ruins. Every other town looked destroyed, as if no humans lived there. All of them smelled of vampires.

I passed a remote farming area on the way. This area had yet to be hit by the bloodthirsty menaces, but they had heard the stories. I spotted a few people working out I a field.

_Oh, no_, I thought. _This'll be trouble._

I stopped on the dirt road and watched them, gauging their reactions. They grew nervous. I saw a woman with a sunhat whisper to her neighbor, both started inching away from the road.

I noticed that one of the men reached for his back and shuffled his feet. I fled the town before he could pull out his gun.

**EPOV ("E" for Elsie, not Edward)**

The vampire with bronze hair left us at a house for orphans. A motherly old woman with a floral dress beckoned us into the house, muttering about vampires and the evils of the modern day.

Erica and Tommy love the attention, but Michael's suspicious. After living all these years in Voltera, he's unused to kindness without an ulterior motive. Dice and Anna are just appreciating being clean.

I heard Sarah tell Edward her name. I wonder why she never talked to us before.

That night, we got together and made plans. Erica and Tommy were excluded from the escape plans, seeing as they're young enough to forget all about their years of servitude, and they'd do better here. Michael can't stand the idea of being left behind, and Dice thinks life in an orphanage would be boring. Anna decided she just wanted a nice home, and Sarah didn't say anything, but she listened to every word. **(1)**

Tomorrow night, we'll be on the road and looking for Bella.

**EPOV (This time it's Edward)**

I didn't wish to give Jacob any news of my Bella, but I had no one else to turn to. He would look for her harder than anyone.

_Other than me,_ I couldn't help adding.

I caught him in North Dakota. He already knew about the carnage in Forks, but he didn't notice the other empty towns during his time as a wolf.

While I told him of Bella's change and capture, he kept thinking things along the lines of, _"She shouldn't have been hanging out with leeches,"_ and, _"I would have been better for her."_ I dismissed this.

Jacob and I decided to return to Forks and confront James. We were going to get Bella out of there as soon as we found her.

We both stood up and made our way for Forks.

**BPOV**

It's unbelievable that the social norm has changed so much in so little time. What used to be major cities have become rat-holes, where people take what they need and only the strongest survive.

I kept away from civilization, figuring that people would hate the sight of me. I'm glad to be a vampire, but the ethereal beauty and pale skin are dead giveaways.

I hunted at night, trying to make as little noise as possible.

On the fourth day of my trek, I found a bonfire. The area smelled of death, and I knew that there were pieces of vampires burning. I was 200 miles away in one hour.

_I shouldn't be as disgusted as I am,_ I thought, trying to calm myself down. _I'm sure those vampires were hunting humans in the area. They deserved death._

Still, I was afraid.

**Author's Notes**

**(1) I got tired of having seven kids.**

**I haven't written anything but thesis papers in almost a year. This chapter is gonna be a lot different from the others, but what can you do?**

**By the way, I hated the end of the series.**


	12. Chapter 11

**I'm genuinely trying to write chapters. I will defeat writer's block. Too bad it's 1 o' clock in the morning.**

**Brains**

**BPOV**

On Wednesday, I ran into what seemed to be a cult. Their leader, James Robinson, had taken the vampire apocalypse as an excuse to grant himself power. He promised his followers redemption from God, and led them through the "dark times caused by the sins of others." He and his group were among the first to realize that garlic and wooden stakes don't kill vampires, and they managed to figure out the method of burning pieces of a vampire.

I stumbled upon this group by accident, and they grabbed me at the first opportunity, dragging me into their camp. I assume that I would have been killed immediately, had my eyes not been a dark golden color.

_The stage is mine, _I thought. _It's time to put those acting skills to good use._

Father James asked me, "What's your name, girl? Why are you traveling alone in such dangerous times?"

I replied, "I-I'm Isabella Swan. My-I was out looking for my father and my brothers. We promised to meet at the Tieton Dam, but I waited for three days, and they didn't show up. I just hope that-I hope they aren't-"

"That's enough, child. Clearly you are not one of the dark beings," the Father said.

_He's obviously heard more than a few of these stories, _I thought, glad that he was annoyed.

The cult allowed me in and gave me a place to sleep, but I slipped out when night fell. I might have passed the first test, but they would certainly set more trials to test my humanity.

I moved on and arrived in Tacoma. It seemed to be relatively unaffected by the news of undead vampires.

I was walking down the street, looking for anything, _or anybody,_ I thought, that I recognized.

I stopped. Edward's scent was present. It was faded, maybe three days old, but it was unmistakable. I followed the trail until I came to an orphanage, where an old woman, nervous of my otherworldliness, told me she had recently taken on seven new children, all looking half-starved, until four of them ran away.

I briefly met up with Tommy and Anna (Erica had already been adopted). They were enjoying a more normal life, and were thrilled to sort of have a home.

I left, headed for Forks.

_I doubt that James, Victoria, or Laurent will be there. They'll be out looking for me, and they think I have no reason for returning to Forks. Also, that's probably where Elsie is leading the other kids. Edward might be looking in that area as well._

I left Tacoma, thinking that being reunited with everyone would be a relief, but it sounds too good to be true.

**James' point of view**

After Bella escaped, we went off to search. It was difficult convincing Victoria that we need her because she knows about the drug, and not because I _like_ like her, as Victoria puts it.

I went to search in the West, Victoria in the East, leaving Laurent behind to guard the house.

Having a permanent residence isn't as hard as I thought it would be.

**Victoria's point of view**

While I was looking for that Cullen bitch, I ran into a small religious group. They saw me approaching the camp, and the humans went into a panic.

They tried throwing fire at me over a barbed wire fence, but they missed.

I waited for them to settle down and tore down the fence.

I only managed to drink a few, but no one was left alive. After I was done eating, I picked up the smell of my prey. She had been by this area. I followed the scent, tracking her.


End file.
